CCLAP

Project Eco-West aims to get rural communities involved in the greening of their local economies through the creation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventories that lead to the development of a Climate Change Local Action Plan (CCLAP).

The four CCLAP milestones are:

Conducting a GHG emissions inventory

Setting an emissions reduction target

Developing a GHG emissions reduction action plan

Implementing the local action plan or a series of initiatives to achieve the targets that have been set by each of the participating municipalities

Developing a CCLAP begins with a GHG emissions inventory, a process that collects data on community and municipal energy use and solid waste generation in order to estimate GHG emissions in a given year. The objective of the inventory is to identify emissions sources based on the types of energy used, the sectors involved (transportation, buildings, water treatment plants, residual materials management, etc.), and the equipment being used throughout a municipality.

The process also includes a series of consultations with municipal staff and various community leaders and, under the oversight of the council of the municipality, this leads to the development of a climate change local action plan that is then ratified by the municipal council.

The document is then presented to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) as well as the Canadian chapter of the ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) to ensure that the proposed plan is in line with international standards in addressing matters relating to sustainability and climate change.

A Climate Change Local Action Plan (CCLAP) is thus a strategic document that illustrates how a municipality will achieve its GHG emissions reduction targets. The plan covers municipal operations and the community, and so municipal governments are encouraged to first develop and implement a plan for municipal operations. In doing so, they demonstrate leadership and provide a positive example for the community.

Overall, the goal of the CCLAP approach is to duplicate the creation of standardized environmental inventories and local action plans that will lead to the following:

The identification of innovative, feasible ‘model’ projects for participating municipalities;

The creation of preliminary designs for green projects that can be readily embraced by local populations as well as succeed in obtaining funding from the various levels of government, as well as the FCM’s ‘Green Municipal Fund’ (GMF);

Improve and widen local/regional knowledge and expertise with the help of specialized contractors and firms in order to create innovative and sustainable infrastructures tailored to the specific needs of local/regional populations;

The creation of a community of best practices in the areas of sustainability and the sharing of green initiatives among rural municipalities in all four Western Canadian provinces.